One strategy I will use my formal assessments for is to identify the misconceptions my students still have. When starting a unit there are many common misconceptions students have about certain topics and concepts. Informal assessments are a great way to look at those misconceptions early on in the unitespecially, right after a lesson. Informal assessments can give me an idea about what is clear to my students and what they are still struggling with. The same thing is also true for formal assessments.If a majority of a class got the same questions wrong it tells me that they are still unclear about the concept and that it needs to be readdressed, possibly in another format. It can also show that they are still holding on to their previous misconceptions and thinking. Therefore, after a formal assessment I can review those ideas that students are still struggling with.
A second strategy I can use is to look at questions that are marked wrong to see if the question was unclear and confusing to students or if it was a bad question. If a majority of students get the same question wrong it can indicate that they still don’t understand the concept or it was a bad question and wasn’t written clearly. Reviewing a formal assessment can help me as a teacher to look at my form of assessment and see if it can be improved. I can see if it was a good method to assess my students or if another format would have been better. I can also look at the questions individually to see if they need to be rewritten and clarified. Many students may have gotten a question wrong because they misinterpreted what it meant.
Lastly, I can use my formal assessments to help me alter lessons for the following year. If most of my students really struggled with an idea then I know for the next year that the way it was taught was not effective and that the lesson needs to be improved or the idea needs to be taught in alternate ways so that it can meet the diverse learning needs and styles of my students. If you teach a topic in multiple ways it will be easier for the students to grasp it.
A second strategy I can use is to look at questions that are marked wrong to see if the question was unclear and confusing to students or if it was a bad question. If a majority of students get the same question wrong it can indicate that they still don’t understand the concept or it was a bad question and wasn’t written clearly. Reviewing a formal assessment can help me as a teacher to look at my form of assessment and see if it can be improved. I can see if it was a good method to assess my students or if another format would have been better. I can also look at the questions individually to see if they need to be rewritten and clarified. Many students may have gotten a question wrong because they misinterpreted what it meant.
Lastly, I can use my formal assessments to help me alter lessons for the following year. If most of my students really struggled with an idea then I know for the next year that the way it was taught was not effective and that the lesson needs to be improved or the idea needs to be taught in alternate ways so that it can meet the diverse learning needs and styles of my students. If you teach a topic in multiple ways it will be easier for the students to grasp it.